Final

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Ferguson Reaction

By no means do I think that we've seen the end of racism in this world.  That doesn't necessarily mean that I believe Officer Wilson is racist but the situation probably would have been handled a lot differently if Michael Brown was white.  I don't blame the town of Ferguson for lashing out but I definitely don't agree with the riots and the looting.  There is no way that anyone can move on or find peace if they continue the fighting at such an extreme.  Last night, Officer Wilson resigned and I think it's for the best.  With my own personal feelings aside, I believe Wilson made the right choice because there was such a high risk for him to go out and do his job.  Nobody from Ferguson is going to forget his face and he would never be able to live it down.

The Working Poor

"If we have nothing, we have each other."  I absolutely love that chapter seven started out with this quote by a mother of three kids named Kara.  As important and necessary as money is in this world, it does not create happiness.  I think that is an important message not only throughout this book but in life.  Close to all of the stories I've read so far in this book have not exactly been on the happier side but in most cases, the subjects of the stories stay positive.  I thought it was very interesting reading the part about the family's check being paid for when they went out for dinner.  Instead of being excited and grateful like I had thought she would be, Kara got angry and seemed a little embarrassed.  Each chapter makes me feel more grateful for all of the opportunities I've had and will continue to have in my life.

Death of a Playmate

I was very intrigued reading this story.  Within the first few sentences, I was already hooked because I knew how Dorothy's life ended but not the events that lead up to it.  I found the story to be interesting because when I think of Playboy bunnies, I don't think of their lives and their stories or where they come from; I just think of them as Playboy bunnies.  I liked that we were given Dorothy's backstory because it put her life into perspective and humanized her.  I did have a hard time following the story at some points because of the way the pages were set up but it had nothing to do with the writing.  Teresa Carpenter did a very nice job writing about Dorothy.

Midterm Portfolio

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The Working Poor part 2

The more I read from Shipler's book, the more grateful I am for what I have in my life.  He wrote about a woman named Caroline that worked at Wal-Mart.  I definitely felt for Caroline because she worked hard to get to where she is now.  She earned her associate's degree and got her own house after being homeless with her daughter.  She was discriminated against at her work for the simple fact that she was older and she has no teeth.  A man was hired after her and was immediately paid more than her.  It's not fair that she is being treated any different for her appearance.  I am very lucky to have a job in a restaurant that pays me fairly.  I also feel lucky for my teeth.

In another chapter, I learned about a sewing factory that a man named Juan works at.  They are very sneaky in the way that they pay their employees.  Instead of paying minimum wage, the employer pays based on how much work was done.  Most of the employees only end up making $3 an hour.  If the minimum wage is raised, the required speed of production is also raised so that they don't have to give out any more money than they were before.

The Working Poor Reading

I was surprisingly intrigued by what I've read so far.  Unfortunately, I found myself being able to relate to a lot of topics that Shipler mentions.  Growing up the youngest of five, my parents definitely did not have a lot of money and have always lived paycheck to paycheck.  Some of the stories in the book are heartbreaking and some parts stood out more than others. On page 10, Shipler wrote about the way poor people define poverty.  A fifteen year old girl from New Hampshire used the word "hopelessness" to describe it.  A quote on the next page really put their situations into perspective.  It reads, "A run-down apartment can exacerbate a child's asthma, which leads to a call for an ambulance, which generates a medical bill that cannot be paid, which ruins a credit record, which hikes the interest rate on an auto loan, which forces the purchase of an unreliable used car, which jeopardizes a mother's punctuality at work, which limits her promotions and earning capacity, which confines her to poor housing."  That shows the true struggle that people suffering from poverty go through on a normal day.  It is nearly impossible to move past debts when one leads to another.  It is absolutely heartbreaking to read.  I've already learned some valuable pieces of information that could help me in my own future.  The book went into a lot of good detail about W2's and other tax forms.  I hope that the more I read, the more I will continue to learn about this issue and maybe even help my family and others.